Estimation of economic and biological traits of the alfalfa initial material in the south of the Rostov region

Alfalfa is a perennial legume that plays an important role in feed production. The high demand for alfalfa all over the world, including the Russian Federation, results in the necessity to develop new high-yielding varieties with high quality feed. The purpose of the current study was the morpho-biological analysis of 198 alfalfa collection nursery samples (sown in 2018) and the identification of sources of useful economic and biological traits in comparison with the standard variety ‘Rostovskaya 90’ (Russia). The study was conducted in 2019-2021. Based on the study results there have been identified the following sources of useful traits: Pickstar (Canada), Saranac A.R. (USA), G118/13 (Russia); according to plant height (105-107 cm); Caraveli (Peru), Saranac A.R (USA), Liska (Ukraine), Sarga, G 19/13, G 144/13, Selection 5, Sin 6, Sin 36/95 (Russia) according to foliage (over 50 %); Selection 79, Uralochka, G-3, G-5, Donskaya 5, G 97/13, G 8/13, G 73/13 (Russia); according to green mass productivity (4.83-5.79 kg/m2 ); Saga (Canada), Selection 6, Sin 1, d. 14813, G-2, Sin 36/95, Selection 33, Selection 34, d. 4576 (Russia) according to dry matter content (over 29 %); Sarga (Russia), Karlygash and Aliya (Kazakhstan) according to crude protein content (over 21 %). The identified samples will be used as parental forms in alfalfa breeding for feed productivity.